Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing Program

As a result of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the “Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program” (HPRP) was established. Congress appropriated $1.5 billion for this program allowing communities to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. Through these funds, the City of St. Louis received an allocation of $8.1 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and nearly $300,000 from the State’s Department of Social Services’ allocation, a total of $8.4 million.

As a result, the City of St. Louis took a giant leap forward in the battle of ending long-term homelessness for families and individuals residing in emergency shelters or on the streets. The City, through the Department of Human Services, has developed a comprehensive plan to administer HPRP funding by partnering with the City of St. Louis Continuum of Care and the St. Louis Public Schools.

This new plan titled, “Hope Is Moving In,” was launched by Mayor Francis G. Slay along with several other dignitaries at an event in the rotunda of City Hall on Oct. 6. “Hope Is Moving In” represents a new service delivery model requiring close collaboration between participating agencies and designed to provide easy access for those in need of help.

Antoinette Triplett, Manager of the Homeless Services Division, stated, “This new initiative builds on the success of the 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, implemented in 2005. It combines the efforts of preventing homelessness, rapidly re-housing persons that become homeless, reducing barriers to securing housing, linking persons with needed resources and providing permanent supportive housing.”

Central to “Hope Is Moving In” is the establishment of five hubs which will be located throughout the city where people can receive assistance. One hub will be located downtown at the Housing Resource Center, 800 N. Tucker, which will provide rapid re-housing services for homeless people.

The other four hubs will be located within St. Louis Public Schools that are considered Community Education Full Service Schools (CEFSS). These schools currently provide a variety of education, health and cultural activities to the community and are ideally positioned to provide easy access to these new services. The hubs located within the Community Education Schools will begin providing services in November on an appointment only basis. The schools and locations are:

• Clay Elementary School, 3820 North 14th Street
• Mullanphy Elementary School, 4221 Shaw Boulevard
• Sigel Elementary School, 2039 Russell Boulevard
• Stevens Middle School, 1033 Whittier Street

Each of these hubs will have a case manager and an intake clerk. Additionally, the team of providers will include a hub coordinator, a benefit coordinator, a housing specialist, a housing inspector, legal professionals, and financial counselors. The city will also establish additional collaborations in each hub focusing on employment, mainstream services and other assistance needed to stabilize homeless and at-risk individuals and families. Each team member will be employees of existing agencies that currently provide similar services and have additional resources to assist program participants. Partnering agencies are:

• Grace Hill Settlement House
• Human Development Corporation
• St. Vincent DePaul
• Urban League
• Housing Resource Center
• Municipal Information Systems
• Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
• MERS Goodwill

The launch of this new initiative afforded persons experiencing homelessness an opportunity to meet in the City Hall rotunda with homeless service and housing providers. As many as 160 homeless persons were assessed that day and immediate steps initiated to assist them in removing housing barriers, provide needed services and assist them in locating suitable housing.

For more information on the “Hope Is Moving In” initiative, contact the Homeless Services Division of the Department of Human Services at 657-1705 or visit www.hopeismovingin.com.

Bill Siedhoff; DHS Director, Antoinette Triplett;Homeless Services Manager, Karen Wallensak, Housing Resource Center, Mayor Francis G. Slay

Bill Siedhoff, Antoinette Triplett, Rodney Jones; Grace Hill Settlement House, Mayor Slay

Bill Siedhoff, Antoinette Triplett, Ruth Smith; Human Development Corporation, Mayor Slay

Bill Siedhoff, Dan Glazier; Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Antoinette Triplett, Mayor Slay

Bill Siedhoff, Zip Rzeppa; St. Vincent dePaul, Antoinette Triplett, Mayor Slay

Bill Siedhoff, Antoinette Triplett, James Buford, Urban League, Mayor Slay

Human Services
City of St. Louis
Human Services web site